


A Life Together

by accioepiphany



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Time, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Living in the North, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 18:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19340227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accioepiphany/pseuds/accioepiphany
Summary: Is between the many nights Jaime spends with Brienne that he notices why he really came to the North, and why he doesn't mind staying if it is by her side.This is in continuity with the second episode of the last season ignoring literally everything else that happened after because Jaime and Brienne deserved better.





	A Life Together

The days after drift quickly. It surprises him how at ease he feels. How simple they settle together. As if it has always been like this, her limbs tangled on his, his mouth hidden under her ear. Both moving, eating, sleeping, living together.

Every night is different, and yet it seems they have fallen into a pattern, one that resembles their first one. The one that happened one night after the war has ended. Brienne was looking incredibly tired but persisted in helping everyone around until the point she was falling asleep in the middle of any conversation. Jaime, Pod and even Sansa insisted several times she should go rest, and she refused to do so, quite stubbornly, until that one time she was talking to Jaime and she fell asleep mid-sentence. Of course, he took the chance and moved her to her chambers with Pod’s help. Three days passed, food came and went and as a maester prescript her to stay away from the cold, she remained locked, until Jaime ventured there at the fifth night in the pretext that this just has gone on for too long. Loneliness and some type of longing might have been part of it too, but he chose to rather don’t dwell on those.

As he broke into the place, despite Brienne’s previous yells for him to go away, she just sighed and turned to him from where she was standing near the window. There was something odd about her, clearly the aftermath of the battle, seeing so many people die in one moment, unable to prevent most of it despite having fought harder than anyone else, but Jaime could tell there was something else too, cause she appeared to be better than before but was still refusing to go out. Even stranger was how thoughtful she looked, almost reflexive.

“You seem way better Lady Brienne. I take that rest was helpful.”

“Very much so,” She answered, not looking at him but at the people moving outside of the room.

“May I ask then, why do you still refuse to bless us with your presence?” At this, she turned just to give Jaime a warning look and rolled her eyes, hinting an answer to his question.

“I... I don’t know. I've been taking some time to think, I guess.” Having not expected such an honest answer, Jaime couldn’t help but be speechless for a couple of minutes, until he remembered the reason why he had come in the first place.

“I don’t want to sound mean spirited but, you’re not much the thinking type.” Now she turned fully, squinting at him. Jaime smiled. “Could I be of any help in this pondering?” Brienne sighed and looked past him, to the door.

“Never mind. I’m ready to join society again.” Noticing she was heading to the door, he ran to it and got there first.

"I mean it." He whispered, staring at her. "What are you worried about?"

"Nothing." And she tried one more time to get to the door with little use, as Jaime didn't let her. So she sighed, sat on her bed and continued. "Everything... What exactly comes after this? Am I to follow Lady Sansa to high and lows while she grows and becomes the ruler she is meant to be, maybe even forms a family of her own while I... stand behind?" She was now standing, addressing her monologue at the window, not daring to face him as she opened her heart, "Or do I become the exact knight you made of me and defend whichever king or queen that ends on the throne after whatever this is, it's over. Or..."

After a silence that seemed to Jaime an eternity, he decided to whisper."Or what?" Almost sensing where her trail of thoughts was taking her.

"Or... I can be something else..." She concluded, turning her soft eyes to Jaime. A clear question, or more than one, behind: 'Why are you still here? What are your plans? What is this _something else_ for you too?'. However the one she spoke was quite different, "You think there might be any other option for me?"

"Of course there is." Jaime admitted, silently including himself in that option as he stared back, flooded by memories of his trip to the North, of what kept him going, alive, hopeful. There was another option for her as there was for him. It was Brienne who reminded him of this, with her words the last time they met, Brienne with her sword's name, Brienne with her promise to the Starks, his own promise... Brienne with her eyes the color of Tarth's sea, the one he saw once when he wasn't in her company. It was her who came to him in the night, when the coldness was almost unbearable, as he hid in some unknown cheap tavern where no one will recognize him. She came to him dressed as a warrior, dressed as a knight, dressed as a maiden, in some occasions saving him, in others fighting next to him, sometimes traveling along, some others sleeping at his side, making dreaming so much easier. It was Brienne, his past, his present, his future.

How that night ended he doesn't properly recall, he knows they didn't speak anything else, but in his memories, the rest gets all mixed with the many other nights that happened after. One thing he remembers clearly is Brienne not leaving her chambers that day either, and neither him.

He is with her now, weeks later. The story retelling itself. Him laying beneath her, tracing her naked back with his hand, legs tangled, flushed faces, fast pace, traces of saliva and soft kisses following them, sweat, smiles, and caresses over scars that seem new each night their bodies found each other again. In the morning they walk around, always together, there's some sparring, some riding, much talking, much fooling and much mocking, but not any discussion of what is growing between them. Why talking about the future when is easier to just get lost in themselves. Still, there are moments in which Jaime catches her looking at the horizon, that thoughtful stare of many nights before back in her expression. And then, one day, now months in, some days after receiving the news of Cersei's death, Brienne receives a Raven from Tarth. Her uncle, the one that has taken on what should have been her responsibilities as heir of Lord Selwyn Tarth, has passed away, "he was the one that took my place", she tells Jaime while transmitting the news, disregarding the whole business, while Jaime keeps thinking about the emphasis she makes on ' _my_ place'.

Is clear, as the time passes by, that there's some gloom settling in both of them. Is not only the mourning but also what these two deaths mean to them. For Jaime, reconciling his sister death and the life he has now is what keeps him up at night most days. But if he is honest to himself, is mostly the question of 'what now' that seems to haunt him more than ever.

This is why, on one particularly dark day in which Brienne only speaks to him as far as two words, 'good morning', Jaime makes a decision and calls her to the same room where he knighted her. He paces the room nervously, waiting for her, staring at the fire at times, at the door at others, until Brienne finally makes an entrance with worry in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, of course." He answers, as his eyes say something else. Brienne just stares, still concerned. He tries to break the tension. "How similar is your father to you?"

"My father?" She asks, confused.

"Lord Selwyn."

"I know my father's name." Brienne says, racing her voice as she looks at him. Jaime exhales, he seems to have forgotten how to breathe. Brienne seems a little more at ease so she actually answers the question. "I have his eyes."

"Of course you do." Jaime says, unable to keep away his smile.

"Jaime" She asks with caution after returning the smile. "Why are we here?" And so his nerves come back in full motion and he stares at the floor trying to stop shaking. Brienne seems to interpret this the wrong way because her tone changes as she speaks again. "You know what? I'm going."

"What? Wait! Just wait a second." Jaime almost yells as he snaps back to his senses.

"No. Whatever it is, just... No." And she starts moving towards the door, towards her escape. That's when Jaime really shouts.

"Is your father as stubborn as you are?" This seems to work because Brienne stops and turns to him confused and now properly annoyed.

"Why do you care how my father is?"

"Because." He says a little too loud considering they are the only ones in the room. "I want to know how much it will take me to convince him to let me marry his daughter." Jaime finishes, the words rushing one over the other. Brienne, ready to respond something else until she heard the last three words, stands there, mouth ajar, eyes focused on his, unable to move or to answer. So Jaime continues, "I... I know you've been worrying about what comes next, where you... where _we_ stand. I know I have," Considering she isn't going anywhere still, he decides to keep talking, "Sansa is well on her own now. You are a knight of the seven kingdoms, but you are also Lady of Tarth, the only heir of your land, clear replacement for your uncle..." He sees then that Brienne moves closer to him. This is what's been between them all this time, unspoken but latent. He is not sure exposing it is the right way to go with Brienne, but he is certain is the only way she could understand his meaning.

"What are you... What do you mean?" She prays as she stands now very close to him and Jaime gathers all the strength he has left.

"Would you... Would you marry me?" He pledges back, and raise his hand to hold her face, a soft caress promising all that the sword she owns, already has.

He notices she takes hold of Oathkeeper as she answers his question, guaranteeing with this way more than he could have ever expected. He knows what comes with this is a compromise much bigger than the ones they have taken before, but to get where they want is more than worth it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> As everyone else, I found writing this cathartic so I can imagine a better ending for Jaime and Brienne than the one loosely put in the last season. So I hope sharing it will help others do catharsis too.


End file.
